What is next when a person has hep-c in the third stage. What symptoms will my sister begin to have.?

Question

1. What is appox. life span.
2. What will be the symptons
3. What would be the treatment plan

Answer 1

Hi Diva

Here are some ideas to help the healing process.

Cause
The most common cause of hepatitis is a virus that can occur in five potential forms: A, B, C, D, or E. Other causes include excessive alcohol consumption, drug abuse (including pharmaceutical drugs, such as acetaminophen), overexposure to chemicals, and, sometimes, as a reaction to properly prescribed medications.

In recent years, hepatitis C has been on the increase. It is most frequently caused as a result of blood transfusions. Typically, people with hepatitis C are identified either because they have abnormal liver tests or because of a hepatitis C antibody test. A positive test does not necessarily mean serious liver disease, however. People with hepatitis C may have no liver disease, a mild form of chronic hepatitis, or a more serious form of hepatitis that may progress over a number of years to cirrhosis. The usual indications are a positive antibody test for the hepatitis C virus, abnormal liver tests for more than six to twelve months, and a liver biopsy that shows chronic active hepatitis. Approximately 20% of patients chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus will go on to develop cirrhosis.

Note: Infectious hepatitis can be easily spread two weeks before and one week after jaundice appears. The feces of people with hepatitis contain the virus. Therefore, very strict toilet hygiene and hand and cloth washing should be observed during this time.


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Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: Rosemary can help stimulate liver function.

Diet: Follow a diet low in protein and high in fresh vegetables to minimize stress on the liver. Also eat small meals throughout the day, and avoid foods such as refined sugars, alcohol, and caffeine, which cause stress on the liver, and be sure to drink plenty of filtered water. Drinking fresh lemon juice water every morning and evening followed by vegetable juice is also recommended to help liver function. Easily digested grains, such as millet, buckwheat, and quinoa, are also good food choices.

Enemas: Three warm enemas administered daily can help boost liver function.

Herbs: The liver-cell regenerative properties of herbs such as milk thistle and licorice can be helpful. Take 1/2 teaspoon of this mixture three times a day. Tumeric combined with milk thistle has also been shown to help alleviate the symptoms of hepatitis B.

Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating a wide range of conditions and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment. I suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments.

Juice Therapy: The following juice combinations can be helpful: beet, carrot, and wheat grass juice; or garlic, burdock, flax, and black currants.

Nutritional Supplementation: Supplement with vitamin C, beta carotene, liver glandulars, milk thistle extract, vitamin B complex, adrenal glandulars, lipotropic factors, pantothenic acid, free-form amino acids, betaine hydrochloric acid (HCL), multi-enzymes, and evening primrose oil.

Alternative Professional Care
If your symptoms persist despite the above measures, seek the help of a qualified health professional. The following professional care therapies have all been shown to be useful for treating hepatitis: Ayurveda, Acupuncture, Detoxification Therapy, Magnetic Field Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, and Oxygen Therapy.

Best of health to both of you

Cheers

Answer 2

Hep C often has no symptoms for years, even decades, yet the virus silently causes scarring on the liver; that's why it can be so dangerous. Stage 3 means there is quite a bit of scarring; the scars are connecting (called bridging fibrosis) which begins to slow down the efficiency of the liver's processes. There is no formula to determine someone's life span because there are so many variables involved that affect the progression of the disease. This disease affects everyone differently. The most common symptoms are fatigue & joint pain. Often the symptoms are so subtle, they are attributed to other things (our hectic lifestyle, getting older, etc). As fibrosis increases, liver functions will become less efficient as evidenced by blood work. Liver enzymes may run high, or they may be within normal limits (40% of people with HCV have normal enzymes- one of the reasons it's diagnosis may be delayed).
The treatment is weekly shots of pegylated interferon with daily ribavirin pills given over a 48 week period (approximately, depending on your genotype). There are side effects to the treatment, such as flu like symptoms, fatigue, drop in red and/or white blood cell counts, headaches, etc., but the standard treatment is the only one that has been shown through research to be effective in 50-80% of the people who take it (response rates depend on your genotype). The treatment is a mild form of chemotherapy, but if it works it is well worth it. I did the treatment before the pegylated interferon came out (the side effects were worse then) and I was blessed to be a sustained responder (6 years now!). Be cautious of alternative treatments; I've never seen adequate research to show they've cleared anyone of the virus. Some claim success because the liver enzymes go down to normal limits, but fluctuation of liver enzymes is typical with this disease, and it not an indication of how much damage has occurred to the liver. The only way to know if any treatment is successful is to do pre-treatment and post treatment viral load tests (blood work). An undetectable viral load done 1 year after treatment has stopped means you're a sustained responder and you have a less than 2% chance of relapsing. Hope this helped. Best wishes to you.

Answer 3

Only around one in four people will have symptoms during the first six months of a hepatitis C infection. This stage is known as acute hepatitis C.
The symptoms may include:
a high temperature of 38oC (100.4oF) or above
tiredness
loss of appetite
stomach pains

If you have been diagnosed with liver disease, you might be feeling afraid and somewhat bewildered and would appreciate more information about all aspects of this condition. What causes it? What are the treatments available? What are the possible diet and lifestyle changes you should make? What advice for a holistic approach to managing – and even reversing it? and i know the website is so good and full information a bout fatty liver at:http://adola.net/go/fattyliver-bible/
Hope this useful!

Answer 4

This type of disease is easily spread through all types of sexual contact. Just by you having sex with an infected partner once is enough for you to contract the disease. I would HIGHLY recommend that you get tested for not only Hep C but all the other STD's just in case. Its alot better to find out now then later.

Answer 5

Stages Of Hep C

Answer 6

MY SISTER HAS HAD STAGE 4 HEPC
THEY GIVE HER INTERFERON TREATMENTS
GOES INTO REMISSION BUT ALWAYS COMES BACK
SHE HAS BEEN FIGHTING IT FOR 5 YEARS.
HOPE THIS HELPS.
ALSO MAYBE SHE WOULD LET YOU GO WITH HER TO THE DR. THEN YOU WILL BE INFORMED. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO LOSE MY SISTER SEVERAL TIMES.